An Edible Gem
![A young Gem-studded or Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) in the woods of Distant Hill Gardens in Walpole, New Hampshire.](https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=681x1024:format=jpg/path/sdccc40e06c1472d8/image/ie937fb4af5a029e9/version/1698101914/a-young-gem-studded-or-common-puffball-lycoperdon-perlatum-in-the-woods-of-distant-hill-gardens-in-walpole-new-hampshire.jpg)
Gem-studded puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum, are also known as common puffball, warted puffball, or the devil's snuff-box.
Puffballs are considered to be a good edible mushroom when young, when the gleba or inside is still homogeneous and white. Nutritional analysis of puffballs indicates that they are a good source of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and several micronutrients.
![A mature Gem-studded or Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) in the woods of Distant Hill Gardens in Walpole, New Hampshire.](https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=681x1024:format=jpg/path/sdccc40e06c1472d8/image/if3fb86928258815d/version/1698101864/a-mature-gem-studded-or-common-puffball-lycoperdon-perlatum-in-the-woods-of-distant-hill-gardens-in-walpole-new-hampshire.jpg)
In maturity, the top of the puffball sloughs away, revealing a pre-formed hole called the ostiole, through which the spores can escape. Mature puffballs release their powdery spores through the ostiole when they are compressed by touch or falling raindrops. A single puff like this can release over a million spores.